I usually blog early in the morning but my day has been wacky so I’m running behind and to top it off, I really have nothing to say. I’m leaving Friday for a conference in Chicago. I enjoy going to Chicago and like to walk around and not need a car for a few days. I had hoped my wife was going to be able to join me but several things going on around here will prevent that so it makes the trip a little less exciting to look forward to. Even so, I’ll probably still pop in to the original Pizzeria Uno, eat at ESPN Sportszone for my son and finish off my time there at Joe’s Stone Crab. Things may change but it’s good to have dreams of eating good!

The rest of the time I’ll be at an accounting software conference. I’m not sure I can imagine anything sounding more boring but I’m sure there is. I’m considering trying to get tickets to a Bulls game but the luster of seeing them has diminished over the years. I’ve also thought of dropping in at Truefitt & Hill and getting an old-fashion shave and haircut. The Apple store will be a definite stop and maybe the Orvis store too. I think there is a theater near my hotel so I might catch the new Denzel Washington movie one night.

I’ll be alone but I think I’ll find a few things to keep me occupied. It’s good to have plans.

My daughter was able to run in the district cross country meet as it was moved up to Friday. She has struggled with the early morning practices and has appeared to waver at times on whether it is something she wanted to do. I have absolutely no idea if she will run again next year but Friday was a wonderful day. She ran the course in 16 minutes and 38 seconds! It was her best time ever and a great effort over any of her previous times. I am so proud of her because she showed up with a goal of a time to beat (even asked me to help her make sure she was under that time) and then just blew her goal away. It was a great day for a mom and a dad and I trust it was a great day for my little girl too.

Way to go KoKo. You make me so proud and bring me great joy.

Here’s my friend David and his alligator friend. Someone on the boat said alligator’s don’t have brains which is probably why the alligator kept chasing the lure even after it got hooked once or twice before David got it to the boat. I commented that I wondered if some fishermen were like alligators in that they keep trying to catch something that could bite their leg off. Oh well…it makes for a great story for years to come.

On the way to Salado today, I saw a church advertising their 30 minute worship. Ain’t that grand? All you have to do is carve out 30 minutes for worship. I went to their website and it said they have 8-10 minutes of singing, 12-15 minutes of preaching and about 5 minutes for response (listed as praying and giving). That’s pretty tidy.

At the risk of walking too far out on a limb, I’m going to suggest the way we “do church” is ineffective in some ways and we need to learn from churches that are doing some innovative things to grow in numbers, but more importantly, in spirit. Yet I tend to go in the opposite direction of the 30 minute worship. I get frustrated that we have to be efficient and keep our worship service within a designated time limit. I realize there are certain groups of people that have trouble sitting in one place too long but I also know there are some who complain only because they are not being entertained enough or because they don’t feel they are getting enough out of the service. The focus is inward when it should be upward. The focus in on them instead of on God, on what they get instead of what they are giving. I know because I have been guilty. I have complained the sermon was boring or too long, the songs were too old and too slow. I’m guilty of focusing on what I want from worship instead of what God wants from worship.

30 minutes to worship. Have mercy on me Lord when I try to stuff you in a small box of time so I can go about my life. Help me God to have a soft and open heart and a desire to worship you with disregard to the world around me.

Hopefully, I’ll be able to load a couple of pictures from my recent trip to Venice, Louisiana. It’s a place where the road literally ends. There were 16 in our group, 11 of those from our church here in Decatur and we did have a good, if not tiring, time. The bedroom we stayed in slept 4 and there wasn’t an inch to spare. While the sleeping accomodations aren’t going to get 4 stars, the scenery at times was incredible. Wildlife was abundant and it was exciting and interesting to watch it unfold.

The first picture is one of the smaller redfish I caught. I was on a boat that was more serious about fishing than picture-taking so it’s the only fish I caught I have a picture of. There were several of the fish we caught that had multiple spots on them but this was one of the “normal” ones. That’s Spider fishing on the front of the boat. No one knows his real name.

The other picture is sunset on Saturday night. We were fishing in “Red Pass” where everyone was catching the big reds. It was the first time it was really peaceful on the water while we were there and a beautiful night on the water. (You may be able to click on the pictures to get a better view.)

It was good to get away but always good to be home. I have another trip to make in a week and while it’s tough to get away, it’s also good for my mind to step out of the normal routine once in a while. Now I’m off to Salado to visit one of our stores.

I’ve watched with amazement at the news reports of the fires in California, the 800,000+ people who have been displaced and the damage that has been done. It’s always heartwarming to hear the stories of good deeds done by strangers but so many people have lost their home and possessions. While those things are temporal in the grand scheme, I can only imagine how frustrating it is to have to wait out the fires while thinking about starting over.

On the other side of the country towns have run out of water. The drought in the southeast has finally taken all the water some people have access to and others are just days away from losing theirs. I wouldn’t want to be in that situation either.

Praying for physical needs seems so selfish at times but people in both these situations need help, comfort and an end to their respective situations. I pray both get what they need.

I’m serving on a committee for the school district to look at needs of the district today and in the coming years. We have toured all the facilities and now will spend some time talking through what the priorities need to be for the next 5, 10, 20 years. As I’ve toured the schools, I’ve seen plenty of quick fixes that need to be made – carpet that needs to be replaced, signage that needs to be fixed, driveways and parking that need repairs. Along with those things, we are considering what facilities need to be improved or added to provide the best academic opportunities for our kids.

As we’ve worked through this process, it has struck me how important vision and the ability to cast the vision for the future is. Casting a vision is more than a slick marketing theme though that can be a part of it. Casting a vision really requires someone who can weather storms because there will be plenty of naysayers but the vision cannot grow dim. It’s rather easy to figure out what needs to be fixed today but to think about what needs to be done for the future is a bigger battle.

My life is so similar. It’s easy for me to focus on what I need to do today instead of spending some time preparing myself for the future. Day to day, I can fix little mistakes and postpone decisions but preparing myself for the future takes more thought, more work, more effort and…and the kicker is the payoff doesn’t come for many, many years. Eternity is a long time and something that I can easily postpone thinking about while I wrestle with the mundane tasks of today. Yet, I need to cast my vision and start working on my future because it is the most important decisions I can make today.

It’s cold and rainy in Wise County this morning and I LIKE IT.

We made it back from the edge of the world, also known as Venice, Louisiana. It was a good trip overall but a very long one. After an all night drive and a day of fishing with lots of rain and soaking wet clothes, I was beginning to wonder what I signed up for. The next two days were much better and I caught some big fish. Beautiful reds and big speckled trout. I saw some beauty on the Mississippi River and I saw some devastation that still remains from the hurricane.

One of my boat mates, (I won’t mention your name David Fuller…oops, I just mentioned your name) caught an alligator and tried to load it in the boat. I’ve got a picture I’ll try ot load sometime this week if I can figure it out. While he was doing that, I was trying to figure out how to get as far away from the alligator as possible. There’s nothing like fishing with the Decatur version of Crocodile Dundee.

Have a great day and bundle up.

I’m leaving tonight for a whirlwind fishing trip. I’m way too busy to go but I’m going anyway. I knew I had a lot to do but somehow preparing to leave has made me keenly aware of all I need to be working on. I won’t be blogging for the next few days but hopefully can post a great picture next week of me with a really, really big redfish.
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A friend made the comment to me the other day saying “religious people scare me.” I haven’t gotten that out of my head because I wasn’t sure I understood what he meant but the more I think about it, the more I think I understand. My friend is a broken person, broken by addictions and pain that I don’t know. He’s been preached at and told what he needs to do but he’s in a place where he needs love through actions right now. He’s still hurting as he recovers, hurting because the Devil won a battle with him, hurting because he hurt people along the way, hurting because he failed God. His battle back is learning that God still loves him, still cares for him and has shed grace over him. My friend loves God but is at a point where he needs people who are real, who are open that they are just as fallible, that they struggle with the same struggles.

I think I scare him. I go through life sometimes like I’ve got it all together. I handle missions work, I handle work work, I somehow get stuff done but inside I feel like I’m hanging on by a thread. I think at times I look like one of those religious people that scare him. Yet I’m no different than my friend. I’ve lost battles to Satan, I’ve failed God and I’ve failed people I love. I’ve hurt them and I live with the pain of that hurt. The only thing, the one thing that can keep me going is knowing that God loves me. There’s no doctrine, there’s no right way or wrong way to do church, there’s no work I can do that helps me…only God’s love pulls me out of the sinking sand.

I don’t want to be a religious person. Instead, I want to be a Christ-person. I want to live in Christ-likeness. I want to be the hands and feet of my Savior. I pray God will show me the way.

I was a part of an event recently that got me thinking about people who live outwardly (the appearance of a Christian) as Christians and people who live inwardly (having a Christ-like heart) as Christians. While I was being judgmental towards some people I saw that appeared to be living outwardly it got me to thinking that while I can easily look at them and make a determination of what I think or feel, it’s not so easy to look inside Jeff and see what is going on. It reminded me I need to be focused on making judgment of my actions, I need to be focused on making judgment of my thoughts and feelings.

I live far too much living outwardly as a Christian but not living inwardly as I should. I do things I’m supposed to do most of the time but my heart and mind are not where they should be. I want to love God and live for God. I want to be a light and be Christ-like. To do so, I need to be sure I am walking in Christ’s footsteps and not worrying about what someone else does. I need to be sure my heart and soul and strength are focused on Him, not someone else.

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.

Yesterday was Missions Sunday at church. Our missionary from Brazil is here and he along with some others made presentations about the missions work we support. The big part of the day for me was the special contribution. We have some specific needs we hoped to address for some of our missionaries and set a goal of $20,000 for the day. This was on top of our regular contribution and while I felt confident we would hit our goal, I felt it would be close.

I was standing next to one of the finance guys when he turned the adding machine towards me so I could see the total of $48,000+ and it took me a couple of seconds to make sure my eyes were adjusted properly. With a pledge of $1,000 to be paid in the coming year, we hit nearly $50,000 and I would guess a few more checks will roll in. Incredible.

God is amazing and He is good. He provides in abundance.

Yesterday was a great reminder to me of what can happen when we trust God to give us what we need.